Composition and Morphology of Organic and Mineral Matter in Fly Ash Derived from Bituminous Coal Combusted in the Bêdzin Power Station (Poland)
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Polish Geological Institute Special Papers, 7 (2002): 237–244 Proceedings of the IV European Coal Conference COMPOSITION AND MORPHOLOGY OF ORGANIC AND MINERAL MATTER IN FLY ASH DERIVED FROM BITUMINOUS COAL COMBUSTED IN THE BÊDZIN POWER STATION (POLAND) Danuta SMO£KA-DANIELOWSKA1, Magdalena MISZ1 Abstract.Flyash particles formed during coal combustion are composed entirely of organic or/and mineral matter. The proportions of the two components depends on combustion conditions and the presence of minerals in feed coal parti- cles. The aims of this paper are the classification of char morphologies, the quantification of the inert- and semiinert compo- nents, and the characterisation of the morphologies and compositions of mineral particles in fly ash from Bêdzin Power Station, Poland. Various char morphologies are presented and their distribution in individual pulverised fuel boilers is dis- cussed as are the morphologies of mineral particles and the distribution of major and minor elements in different size fractions of fly ash. Key words:coal, pulverised fuel combustion, fly ash, chars, mineral matter. INTRODUCTION Coal is a complex rock containing organic and mineral mat- 1993). The product of these processes is char containing carbon ter. During the combustion process both organic and mineral and varying proportions of transformed mineral matter (Kor- matter undergo severe changes. The solid products of this dylewski ed., 1993). Volatiles undergo ignition during their process are fly ash and slag. In this paper, the interrelations release (Jarosiñski, 1996) or afterwards (Lau, Niksa, 1992). between transformed organic and mineral matter in fly ash Burnout of released volatiles in the vicinity of char causes an are described. increase in its temperature. After exceeding a critical tempera- The aims of the investigations were: ture, partly transformed coal particles undergo ignition (Cho- — the identification of the morphological forms of unburned miak, 1977) and soot may be formed (Solomon et al., 1993). organic matter, and their classification, This process takes place in the temperature range 500–1800°C — the evaluation of the total inert- and semiinert-inertinite (op. cit.). The next stage is char combustion which involves contents, 90% of the duration of the process (Kordylewski ed., 1993). — the characterisation of the morphology and mineral com- It takes place in the temperature range 900–1800°C (Solomon position of both isolated particles and their aggregates re- et al., 1993). The last stage of the process involves the disinte- sulting from coal combustion in Bêdzin Power Station gration of char particles and the formation of fly ash (op. cit.). (Poland). Pulverised fuel boilers are characterised by the highest tem- Coal combustion is a multistage process. Before coal parti- peratures of combustion, ranging from 1200–1500C, and the cles enter the combustion chamber of a pulverised-fuel boiler, shortest time of combustion. It is assumed that plasticised coal they are ground to less than 100 ìm in size. Crushed coal is de- particles do not agglomerate (Shampine et al., 1995). livered to the combustion chamber together with exhaust gases. The processes described above are influenced by such fac- During delivery, they are heated to a temperature of up to tors as the physico–chemical properties of the coal, its maceral 350C and moisture is evaporated. At higher temperatures, composition and rank on the one hand and, on the other, by ranging from 350–600C, the coal particles undergo a process temperature, rate and time of combustion. In addition, the of softening. Further increase of temperature up to 700C quantity and composition of mineral matter is important. All of causes their devolatilisation and swelling (Solomon et al., these factors influence the amount of unburned organic matter 1 University of Silesia, Department of Earth Sciences, Bêdziñska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland 238 Danuta Smo³ka-Danielowska, Magdalena Misz in fly ash (Walsh et al., 1994) as well as the mass distribution of coals are lower than those of mineralised coals (Crelling et al., ash (Morrison, 1986). 1992; Menéndez et al., 1994). Mineral matter may also influ- Coal is a heterogeneous organic rock. It contains micro- ence fragmentation during combustion (Wigley et al., 1997). lithotypes and associated minerals. Individual coal particles Whether the various minerals and their phases undergo may be formed exclusively of one maceral or associations of changes during combustion is reflected in the composition of macerals. Their composition affects their behaviour during the solid waste products. The composition of the mineral mat- combustion. They may be divided into three groups. ter in coal and the high burnout temperatures achieved during Reactive macerals devolatilise and soften during combus- combustion in conventional power stations influence the com- tion, e.g., vitrinite and liptinite (Falcon, Snyman, 1986), and the position and mineralogy of fly ash, e.g., the occurrence of reactive portions of inertinite macerals, e.g., reactive semi- amorphous aluminosilicate glass and of high-temperature crys- fusinite, low reflective funginite, secretinite, micrinite, ma- talline phases such as mullite, quartz and magnetite (Querol et crinite and inertodetrinite (Kruszewska, 1990). al., 1996). These products are the result of various processes Inert macerals such as fusinite (pyrofusinite) and semi- such as decomposition, oxidation, reduction, dehydration, fusinite (pyrosemifusinite) do not undergo changes during hydration, carbonatization and sulphatization, melting and so- combustion (op. cit.). lution. In addition, pre-existing and newly-formed compounds Semiinert macerals exhibit properties intermediate be- also react with one another. tween reactive- and inert macerals during combustion. These processes result in the formation of fly ash particles Though some coal particles may consist entirely of or- that provide a matrix for the interactions of a great variety of ganic or mineral matter, most involve different proportions of substances formed during coal combustion and the emission these two constituents. The most common mineral groups process. The size of the fly ash particles depends on several occurring in coal are clay minerals, sulphides, carbonates and factors, e.g., initial coal particle diameters, mineral content and silica (Stach et al., 1982). Mineral matter can occur in syn- and its distribution within coal particles, degree of coalescence of epigenetic forms. In many cases, mineral matter co-exists fused mineral matter and number and size of fragments pro- with macerals as carbominerites. It can be dispersed within duced during combustion (Morrison, 1986). macerals as single particles a few m in size or as aggrega- Fly ash particles can be classified with regard to chemical tions of such particles. The shape of these aggregates can be composition and origin into coal particles, combustion particles spherical, oval or lenticular. Mineral matter can also fill and condensation particles (Querol et al., 1995). The latter intercellular spaces. form in the high temperatures of the combustion chamber when Though it is a source of air pollution, inorganic matter in the largest mineral particles fuse and then condense as cenosp- coal does confer some advantages — and disadvantages — heres (Karr, 1979). It is likely that the spherical form reflects during the combustion process. Coal particles containing mi- the action of surface tension (Wadge et al., 1986). neral matter are characterised by a higher specific heat capa- city. They need more time to be combusted. Mineral matter Five pulverised-fuel boilers are installed in Bêdzin Power may also act as catalyser (Wigley et al., 1997). Chars containing Station. Two steam boilers of OP-120 type (K-6 and K-7), one greater amounts of calcium and magnesium impurities are is a water boiler of WP-70 type (K-5) and two are water boilers more reactive due, probably, to the catalytic activity of these of WP-120 type (K-8 and K-9) (Materials, 1995). The thermal elements during coal oxidation (Walker et al., 1968 in Jenkins efficiency of the boilers ranges from 88–90% (E. Piotrowska, et al., 1973). Coal demineralisation may either cause a de- oral inf.). The exhaust gases are carried away through electro- crease in coal reactivity or an increase. Any increased reacti- filters to a single chimney. Every year, 279.1 thousand tons of vity is probably the result of an increase in porosity enhancing coal are combusted in these boilers (Materials, 1995). The heat- oxygen migration into the combusting coal particles (Jenkins ing value of the feed coal is 21.2 MJ/kg, the ash content ranges et al., 1973). The combustion temperatures of demineralised up to 20% and sulphur content up to 0.8%. SAMPLE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Samples of fly ash were collected once a week during the The following analyses were carried out: period November 6, 1996–June 26, 1997. In total, 77 fly ash — analysis of unburned organic matter contents, samples were collected from five pulverised fuel boilers — — determination of char morphological forms at 500 points 5 samples from WP-70 (K-5), 27 from OP-140 (K-6), for each sample, 26 from OP-140 (K-7), 9 from WP-120 (K-8), and 10 from — evaluation of the total-, inert- and semiinert inertinite con- WP-120 (K-9). As the OP-140 boilers were in use during tents, most of the sampling time, most of the samples were col- — X-ray diffraction analysis, lected from these. Fly ash samples were collected at the bot- — scanning electron microscope analysis (SEMA), tom of the electrofilters. — electron microprobe analysis (EPMA). Composition and morphology of organic and mineral matter in fly ash... 239 RESULTS Morphologies of unburned organic matter in fly ash Anisotropic networks (Plate I, Fig. 4) possibly result from the combustion of vitrinertite or trimacerite. They are always During the period of sample collection, no pattern was ob- lower in number than isotropic networks in the same sample – served in the measured unburned organic matter contents. Ex- ranging up to 11.8% only (Table 1).